Tuesday, November 23, 2004

fingerpainting and story-books

or, Hooray for preschool. I don't know about the rest of you, but preschool always brings back fond memories. Okay, they are admittedly fuzzy memories but they do give me a warm fuzzy feeling. It wasn't till I was much older than four that I found out that preschool is not a universal experience....it was only universal in my particular demographic set. Sometime in high school I did a research paper on The Perry Preschool Project which was born in Ypsilanti, MI in the 1960s. The Project was a precursor to our modern day Head Start and set out to prove that preschool is essential for later life success and is a particularly strategy for breaking the cycle of poverty. Now, forty-years later, it seems the folks at the Perry Preschool Project were right. Researchers tracked the original kids from the beginning...for forty years! And what they found was impressive:

As they progressed through school, the Perry children were less likely to be assigned to a special education class for the mentally retarded. Their attitude toward school was also better, and their parents were more enthusiastic about their youngsters' schooling. Their high-school grade point average was higher. By age 19, two-thirds had graduated from high school, compared with 45 percent of those who didn't attend preschool.

Most remarkably, the impact of those preschool years still persists. By almost any measure we might care about -- education, income, crime, family stability -- the contrast with those who didn't attend Perry is striking. When they were 27, the preschool group scored higher on tests of literacy. Now they are in their 40's, many with children and even grandchildren of their own. Nearly twice as many have earned college degrees (one has a Ph.D.). More of them have jobs: 76 percent versus 62 percent. They are more likely to own their home, own a car and have a savings account. They are less likely to have been on welfare. They earn considerably more -- $20,800 versus $15,300 -- and that difference pushes them well above the poverty line.

As most of my readers know, I'm not a fan of The Shrub. But I hope he read this article too. Because even though I am skeptical of his "No Child Left Behind" (after all, he didn't even fund it adequately), this would be perfect to add to such an agenda--universal preschool-- if he truly wished to leave no child behind. And, for all of those who would gripe about the cost: The newest report attaches a dollar-and-cents figure to this good news. Economists estimate that the return to society is more than $250,000 (calculated in 2000 dollars) on an investment of just $15,166 -- that's 17 dollars for every dollar invested. How about them apples?

Friday, November 05, 2004

Talisman

I have to go to Florida this weekend. Yes, I know, I shouldn't complain...it's cold here and warm there. But in the aftermath of this election, I just don't know if I'm ready... to step foot in a Red State. Scary though. Will walking around with the Constitution in my back pocket be protection enough??

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Blue America

This was emailed to me and I thought it was worth posting.

Blue America Charter

Fellow citizens!
It gives me great happiness to unveil our plans for the liberation ofBlue America. For the past three years, we have, in conjunction with a handful of MIT engineers, been constructing a giant, cordless circular saw,which is now complete. With this saw, we plan to carve our thriving,prosperous eastern Blue nation away from the spreading infection of red america. We will then set a mighty sail, which will carry us around the tip ofSouth America and allow us to join our Blue compadres on the West Coast. We will use our giant saw to free our friends, then join our two lands together and sail to a designated point in the Pacific Ocean. There, we will establish our new country: Blue America.

Basic Tenets
Blue America will be founded on the same ideals as the former UnitedStates of America. These ideals, sadly, have been decimated by the same redplague that scrambled the brains of so many of our unfortunate former fellow-citizens. These ideals include:
- The Separation of Church and State
- Freedom of Speech
- Freedom of Assembly and Protest
- Equal rights for all and due process under the Constitution
Blue America will have many additional aspirations not shared by red america, including:
- The goal of giving every citizen high quality education and healthcare (even prescription drugs!), regardless of their race, ethnic background or income
- The right to a satisfying career with fair pay, job security and an eight-hour workday
- Respect for other cultures and honesty in our dealings with other countries
- The right to worship the deity of your choice (or not)
- Family values, meaning the right of anyone to form a family if they wish
- Compassion for the poor and sick
- Belief in the value of: fresh food, recycling, renewable energy,
independent bookstores and movie theatres, literacy, the free exchange of ideas, clean air, clean water, sushi, Julia Child cookbooks, Scrabble, humor, honesty,exercise, art, poetry, community gardens, mass transit, local cheese, the scientific process, the theory of Evolution, national parks, bicycles, music, sidewalks, trees, books, family farms, locally-owned diners with revolving pie cabinets, and decent coffee.

Membership

Membership in Blue America will be limited to residents of states that voted "blue" in the 2004 election, with the following exceptions:
1. Red "carriers" (or "vectors") who are currently living in BlueAmerica are kindly asked to leave before the liberation.
2. Members of certain Blue outposts in red america (like Austin,Texas) will be allowed to apply for Blue America citizenship.
3. Members of Blue outposts in Ohio (Oberlin) will also be allowed to apply for citizenship. However, if accepted they must accept a one-year probationary period. Similarly, members of Blue outposts in Florida(South Beach) will also be allowed to apply, but must accept a two-year probationary period.
4. Members of the Bush family are excluded for life, as are members of the Bush cabinet and all Fox News anchors, and Kid Rock. (Sorry, ColinPowell, but you had your chance.)

Sports
The first official sports team of Blue America will be the Boston RedSox (hereby re-named the Boston Blue Sox). However, red propagandist Curt> Schilling will be cut from the Sox and banished to the worst team in baseball. Also, we'll take Derek Jeter, if he's interested. {llama note: some of us are not interested in Jeter aka "smug bastard" and would vote to amend this section of the charter}

Timetable
Engineers have already begun separating northern Maine from the continent. We plan to be fully liberated and set sail on Blue Inauguration day, January 21, 2005. Pack your guitars, books and Hawaiian shirts, and let'shear it for the blue, white and blue!

Bring on the saw!

Historical Perspective

In fact, far from being a mandate, and despite the 58 million who voted for the scary weasel, this was the weakest incumbent reelection in decades. http://interestingtimes.typepad.com/interesting_times/2004/11/some_historical.html

Let's Do Something

I can't remember where I read this, but somewhere I read about a woman who was able to vote for the first time, and voted for John Kerry. Despite the fact that Kerry lost, she felt that being able to vote was liberating, that she finally had a voice. And, just because Kerry lost, she was not prepared to be silenced. So she is going to write Bush a letter a day.

Now, I think that writing a letter a day will probably get me investigated by the FBI. And, though I'm sure that I will have several things to say about Bush, I don't know if I can write 365 compelling letters a year for the next four years. But I do plan to write him regularly, once month, to remind him that 51% is not a mandate. That 55,564,633 of us voted for the other guy. And tell him why.

Because I will not stand by silently out of despair and fear and watch my country go even further in the wrong direction.